CLIL: Content and Language Integrated Learning

by Do Coyle, David Marsh, Philip Hood

CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) has emerged since the millennium as a major trend in education. Written by Do Coyle, Philip Hood and David Marsh and drawing on their experience of CLIL in secondary schools, primary schools and English language schools across Europe, this book gives a comprehensive overview of CLIL. It summarises the theory which underpins the teaching of a content subject through another language and discusses its practical application, outlining the key directions for the development of research and practice. This book acknowledges the uncertainty many teachers feel about CLIL, because of the requirement for both language and subject knowledge, while providing theoretical and practical routes towards successful practice for all.

Genres: Education, Linguistics

184 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[K W · Rating 5 out of 5]

CLIL is the best method to improve the L2 skills. It focuses on both content and forms at the same time.

[Diz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book introduces the concept of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), which basically means teaching both a foreign or second language and subject content in the same class. I think language teachers will find a lot to think about in this book, and may even want to develop some content courses and try them out. A lot of practical advice is provided here, including how to plan a syllabus, create materials, and evaluate the students' work.

[Ildus Mukhametov · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find the book to be a quality introduction into the subject area. Particularly enlightening for soon-to-be CLIL teachers, the work constitutes a solid background for further percolation into this yet newly shaping sphere.
On the other hand, this is not a cookbook, so no ready-made hands-on worksheets or lesson plans are there for you (even though a couple of websites can be found in chapter 6).

[Toshi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've finally got the detail picture of CLIL. Good to know that is is relatively new methodology, and still lots of research and learning are going on elsewhere. Knowing this encourages me to try in unique way, while taking into account what's already learned elsewhere and published in this book and many other research papers. Especially Project-Based Leaning through CLIL is of my focus.

[Taziana Giusti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect to have a CLIL accurate overview!

I really appreciate the framework offered by the authors. The book will be very useful for me, especially the part that focus on assessment.

[Domo · Rating 2 out of 5]

5/10

[Adrian Buck · Rating 4 out of 5]

I made a sort of New Year's resolution to read four books related to Education this year, and this, half way through May, is the first - though I am also half way through a book on teaching phonetics! It was good to read something intelligent and academic about what I actually spend my time doing, mostly because my own thoughts tend to crystallise through disagreeing with what I read. The most important thing I disagree with in this book is the strong distinction it tries to make between language and content. Generally I think that concepts are much more strongly tied to the language that expresses them: so it follows that concepts are not accurately represented in 'simpler' language. I also think that learning new content facilitates learning new language, and one of the difficulties of foreign language learning per se is that the learner is expected to attach new language to old concepts, and this is not the way the brain works best. The other issue is a certain lack of realism about the resource restraints teachers work under, and that the aim that teachers have time to a) develop customised materials for their lessons; b) undertake research into their own teaching practice; and c) publish and critique both material and research in on-line communities is a little unrealistic. Finally, In Oxford Applied Linguistics: A History of English Language Teaching, A.P.R. Howatt argued that teaching practice moves on the basis of fashion rather than research, and this book too seems to want to attach CLIL to other fashionable movements in Education, rather than find a place for it on its own merits

[Marcel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice, helpful overview of CLIL, although ultimately, you have to largely re-invent the wheel with your own learners. Such is the nature of the content-based beast.

[Azat Sultanov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice CLIL overview. Looks like I'll have to reread it again. At times I found myself not knowing what I was reading. May be it's the language.

[Alexander Brauer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having read the entire book, I am still not sure what exactly CLIL is or entails. I'm just frustrated.